Where Do We Go from Here? Implications and Future Directions for Inquiry on Emotions in Education

Publisher Summary During the past ten years, there has been a discernible, steady increase of investigations into the nature of emotions experienced by students and teachers. These investigations suggest that multiple emotions in both students and teachers should be considered when reflecting on educational problems; that these emotions are patterned in complex ways within individuals, across individuals, and over time. The emotions are influenced by gender, race, individual propensities, classroom interaction, and the sociohistorical context. The findings also demonstrate that emotions profoundly affect students' and teachers' engagement, performance, and personality development, implying that they are of critical importance for the agency of educational institutions and of society at large. At the same time, however, the studies conducted so far seem to pose more new, challenging questions than they can answer. Research on emotions in education is still at an early stage. Theories, strategies, and measures for analyzing emotions in education are yet to be fully developed. Also, to date, studies are too scarce to allow any meta-analytic synthesis based on cumulative evidence, or any firm conclusions informing educational practitioners in validated ways how to deal with emotions, with evidence on test anxiety being an exception. The progress made so far is promising, but much more has to be done if educational research on emotions is to evolve over the next years in ways benefiting education and society.